Gate mechanism for freight-elevator hatchways



- 1,627,994 May 1927' J. PEDERSEN GATE MECHANISM FOR FREIGHT ELEVATORHATCHWAYS Filed Oct. 28, 1926 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventar d'ofbn/ PedersemJM-m - Attornqy May 10, 1927.

J. PEDERSEN GATE MECHANISM FOR FREIGHT ELEVATOR HATCHWAYS Filed Oct. 28,1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jib .2.

Inventor Attorngy cfaiziz/ fl c dezns' 6724 6 w M W f ma 7!vi!II!rrlil',vlfllllilfaflll vnlltlrllilflvllllll 41A, wkxnfiwi irt.liiiiizi.EFHM- a 5V fl M, w E E}. E M a z E 4 E w. z w m 4/ m E v M1,627, 4 May 10, 1927- J. PEDERSEN 99 GATE MECHANISM FOR FREIGHTELEVATOR HATCHWAYS Filed om. 28, 1926 3 SheatsSheet :s

Inventor efaizlz/ feds layer Attornqy Patented May 19, 1 927.

JOHN PEDERSEN, 035 S11, EJGUES, MISSOURI.

GATEEIECHANISM 339R FREIGHT E'LEVATOR HATCHWAYS.

Application filed October 28, 192

This invention relates generally to freight elevators, and has moreparticular reference to a gate mechanism for the elevator hatchways, theprimary object of the invention residing in the provision of such amechanism whereby the various gates are auto matically released when theelevator reaches the various floors so that the gates may be moveddownwardly flush with the elevator bottom wall and the floor of thebuilding so that the entire floor elevation will be open to the elevatorso as to permit bulky articles to be readily moved. uponthe elevator.

Heretofore, freight elevator gates have been so mounted that the samewill rise vertically and stop at a posit-ion within the particular floorlanding, making it impossible to load the elevator with articles or a.height substantially equivalent to the height of the elevator.

A further object of the invention to provide such a gate mechanismwherein the gates will be absolutely locked against movement until theelevatorreaches a par ticular floor level, thus preventing access to thehatchway.

An additional object ofthe invention is to provide means whereby thevarious gates may be manually moved downwardly to open position andautomatically secured in such open position when the elevator is at therespective floor landing of the particular gate.

A still further object of the invention is to provide means whereby thelowered gate will automatically move to raised position as soon as theelevator passes the particular floor landing and when once moved toelevated position will be automatically locked and prevented frommovement in either direction.

Other objects will become apparent as the nature of the invention isbetter understood, the same comprising the novel Storm, combination, andarrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, shown in theaccompanying drawings and claimed' In the drawings wherein likereference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the severalviews: 7

Figure l is a fragmentary section through a freight elevator hatch wayequipped with a gate mechanism constructed in accordance with thepresent invention, said figure dis- Serial No. 144,742.

closing one of the gates as entirely lowered, while the next adjacentgate thereunder moved to slightly lowered position by reason ot thefirst mentioned gate engaging the same during its lowering operation.

i igure 2 is a slightly enlarged detail vertical section takensubstantially upon the line 22 of Figure 1 and looking in a directiontoward the left as indicated by the arrows in said figure for moreclearly disclosing the elevator control automatic gate locking andreleasing mechanism. k

Figure 3 is a greatly enlarged vertical section through two landings ofthe hatch way, one of the gates being lowered and automatically retainedin such position by thev presence'oi the elevator at the particularlanding ofsaid lowered gate.

Figure l is an enlarged fragmentary ver tical section taken at rightangles to the sectional views of Figures 2 and 3, and through one of thevertical guide rails at the side of the elevator hatch for more clearlydisclosing the position of the gate within the guide at the upper endthereof and the manner of attachment of the gate to the balancing weightcord,which weights automatically maintain the gates in raised position.

Figure 5 is an enlarged longitudinal sec tion taken substantially uponthe line of Figure 4 for more clearly disclosing the anti-friction meansbetween the corners of the various gates and the vertical guides atopposite sides of the hatch way, and

Figure 6 is a perspective of one of the weight cord attaching plates,one of which 15 provided at each upper corner of the various gates.

flow having particular reference to the drawings, A, designates afreight elevator hatchway or shaft that extends vertically tlu'ough thevarious floors of the building, the three disclosed in Figures 1 and 2being designated by the reference characters a, b, and 0.

In carrying out my invention I provide at opposite sides of the hatchwaydirectly at the various floor levels vertical channel bars 5-5 extendingvertically through the center of each otwvhieh is a partition wall 6,see Figure 5. l or each floor level there is provided a verticallyslidable gate designated B and C respectively, the opposite verticaledges of which are slidably arranged within said vertical channel barsas clearly indicated in Figures 1, 4 and 5. For facilitating the easyvertical movement 01' the gates within said channel bars there isarranged through each corner oi? the gates directly outwardly of thechannel bars a cross pin 7 upon the opposite ends of which are arrangedflanged rollers S-8 the tread portions of which have engagement with theedges of the channel bars at opposite sides thereof as is clearlyillustrated in Figure These rollers will also prevent lateral ortransverse movement of the gates between the channel bars.

Arranged within openings within the vertical partition walls 6 of thechannel. bars 5 at opposite sides oi? the hatchway are cord pulleys 10which pulleys are arranged in vertically spaced relation with the floorsof the various floor levels a distance equivalent to substantially theheight of the various gates A, B, and C as clearly indicated inFigure 1. Trained over each pulley 10 is a length of cord or rope 1.1,the opposite ends 3 of which extend downwardly within the respectivechannel. bar at opposite sides of the particular channel bar partitionwall 6.

Upon the upper corners of each gate are disposed generally T-shapedbracket plates 1:2, the inner ends oi the cross n'ieinhers ol whichextend within the channel bars and have attachment to the outer ends ofthe respective cords or cables 11 as in Figure 1. The

opposite ends of these cords or cables are at-' tached to weights 13 otsquare shape in cross section and of such a cross sectional area as toprevent the turning oi the weights within the channel bars in back oi"the channei bars respective partition plates 6. Obviously, the pair ofweights for each gate are heavier than the respective so as to normallymaintain the gate in elevated position so as to close the hatch way tothe particular floor level. The upward movement of the various gates isprevented by reason of the fact that the inner ends of the cross membersof the previously mentioned "i sha ed brackets 12 will strike againstthe respective pulleys 10 as disclosed in the lower portion of Figure 1.in further carrying out my invention certain mechanism is associatedwith either or both of the guide bars for automatically maintaining thegate securely locked when in elevated position and for releasing thelock mechanism when the elevator reaches the various floor levels sothat the particular gate may be lowered as indicated in Figure 3However, it is only necessary that this mechanism be disclosed asassociated with one of the guide bars. This mechanism is more clearlyillustrated in Figure 2. and as disclosed in this figure the mechanismis duplicated at each floor level. The units at each floor level consistof a short arm 14 pivoted to the hatch side of the channel bar 5slightly above the floor of the particular landing and being of such ashape and so pivoted to the channel bar as to assume the inwardlyprojecting and slightly upwardly converging position as indicated inFigure 2, the extreme outer end of the arm being equipped with a roller15. The pivotal connection between the arm and the channel bar is suchthat the arm can not drop clownwardly out of the position disclosed inFig ure 2, but may be moved inwardly as disclosed by the position 01 thearm at the floor level a, at which floor level is the elevator B.Directly above this arm 1 1 is a pivotal arm 16 pivoted to the channelbar intermediate its ends the lower end thereof normally projectingthrough an opening 17 in the adjacent wall of the channel bar and withinthat portion of the bar within which the eounl'erbalancing weight 13moves. The faces of the weight adjacent the outer wall the channel barare termed with vertical ratchet teeth 18 so as to be engaged by theinner ends of the respective arms 16 when the weights drop within thechannel bar during the gate raising action for obviously locking theweights against reverse move ment for consequently preventing the gatefrom being lowered.

The outer end of each arm 16 is equipped with a roller 19, while theouter end of each arm 16 is connected with the outer end of the nextupper arm 1% by a cord or wire 20 for a purpose hereinafter more fullydescribed.

The mechanism for each floor level turther consists of a bell crank 21pivoted to the channel bar 5 in vertical alignment with the arms 14 and16 and being formed at its upper end with an inwardly extending finger 2for projection through a slot 23 in the adjacent wall of the channel bar5. Said fingers of the bell cranks are normally maintained out ottheopening 23 by reason of a retractile coil spring 2% that interconnectsthe lower arm of each bell crank with the channel bar 5 so as to permitof the unhampered movement of the various weights 13 within the channelbar. The outer arn'i of each bell crank is connected to the cord or Wire20 that interconnects the arm 16 of one floor level with the arm 14 ofthe next adjacent floor level.

A vertical ramp rail is arranged on the elevator B in such a manner asto be adapted for engagement with the rollers ot the arms 1% and 16 ateach floor level, when the elevator B is brought to the particular floorlevel as illustrated in Figure 2.

As illustrated in Figure 1, the gate C is in a closed position and whenin such po sition the arms and bell crank will be in their normalpositions, that is, the lower end of the arm 16 will have engagementwith the ratchet teeth of the respective weight 13 lit 1 plementary forlocking the gate against downward movement. As soon as the ramp rail 25strikes the roller of the arm 16, this arm will be forced inwardlythereby releasing the weight 13 so that the particular gate may be movedmanually downwardly beneath the floor level to the position of the gatea is shown in Figure 1. In order that the particular gate may be moveddowmwardly so that the upper edge thereof will be flush with the floorof the landing, itis necessary that the next lower gate be released to acertain degree in order that it can be slightly moved downwardly bycontact of the gate being manually lowered. Thisprovision is taken careof by reason of the ramp rail 25 engaging the roller of the arm 114iandmoving the same slightly inwardly as indicated in Figure 2. This inwardn'iovement of the arm M will cause the release of the arm 16 of the nextlower floor level, thus releasing the weight 13 of that particular lioorlevel gate. The upward pulling of the cord or wire 20 will so swing thebell crank 21 comto the next lower floor level as to cause the finger 22to move into the channel bar 5 for limiting the upward movement of theweight 13 so as to prevent the entire lowering of the gate .7) toentirely open position. As soon as the elevator passes a particularfloor level, the arms 1 and 16 will drop to their original positions.

For automatically maintaining each gate in lowered position, the innerside of each gate is provided adjacent its upper edge with a springfinger 26 over the upper end ot which will automatically be projected alatch pin 27 slidable through a cross bar 28 in spaced relation with thehatch edge of the floors of the various landings operable to lockingposition by reason of the lower end of the elevator B coming in contacttherewith, see Figure 3. Each latch pin 27 is normally maintained in aninoperative position by reason of a semi elliptical spring attachedintermediate its ends to the outer end of the respective pin 27. Assoonas the elevator B has passed beyond the particular floor level, therespective gate will be released so that its weight will move the sameto closed position.

In order that the space between the floor of the elevator and the floorsof the different levels will be bridged when the elevator is attheparticular landing, the upper edge of each gate is equipped with a crossboard 30, the ends of which terminate at the guide bars 55, see Figures1 and l.

The operation of the gate mechanism will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art when considering the drawings in accompanin'ient withthe foregoing specification and even though I have herein shown and.described the invention as consisting of certain detail structuralelements it is nevertheless to be understood that some changes may bemade therein without effecting the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims. I

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is 1. In a gate mechanism for freight ele-'ator shafts, vertically slidable gate mem bers forrach floor landing ofthe shaft which gate members are of a height greater than one half theheight of the particular floors of the building, means for automaticallyelevating the gate to closed position, means for locking the gates inclosed position, elevator operable means for releasing the gates wherebythey may be lowered when the elevator reaches a particular floorlanding, and means for partially releasing the next lower gate so thatwhen the gate at the floor adjacent the elevator is lowered, the samewill cont-act the next lower gate and partially lower the same so as topermit of the full movement of the first mentioned gate to openposition.

2. In a gate mechanism for freight elevator shafts, vertically slidablegate members for each floor landing of the shaft which gate members areof a height greater than one half the height of the particular floors ofthe building, means for automatically elevating the gate to closedposition, means for locking the gates in closed position, elevator,operable means for releasing the gates whereby they may be lowered whenthe elevator reaches a particular floor landing, and means for partiallyreleasing the next lower gate so that when the gate at the flooradjacent the elevator is lowered, the same will contact the next lowergate and partially lower the same so as to permit of the full movementof the first mentioned gate to open position, and means operable by theelevator at the particular landing for limiting the lowering of the nextunder gate.

3. In a gate mechanism for freight elevator shafts, vertically slidablegate members for each floor landing of the shaft which gate members areof a height greater than one half the height of the particular floors ofthe building, means for automatically elevating the gate to closedposit-ion, means for locking the gates in closed position, elevatoroperable means for releasing the gates whereby they may be lowered whenthe ele vator reaches a particular floor landing, means for partiallyreleasing the next lower gate so that when the gate at the flooradjacentthe elevator is lowered the same will contact the next lowergate and partially lower the same so as to permit of the full movementof the first mentioned gate to open position, means operable by theelevator at the particular landing for limiting the lowering of the nextunder gate, said means being further operable to prevent the entirelowering of said next under gate.

4. In a gate mechanism for freight elevator hatchways, a verticallyslidable gate for each floor landing oi the hatchway, Weight members soassociated with each gate as to normally move the gate to elevatedclosed position, normally operable means for locking each gate toprevent the movement of the same in either direction, said means beingreleasable by the elevator when the same reaches a particular floorlanding so that the respective gate may be moved downwardly beneath thefloor landing, automatically operable locking means for preventing theraising of the gate when the elevator is at the particular landing, saidmeans being displactaible when the elevator passes the landing so thatthe gate Will automatically 20 move to elevated closed position.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

Jo nt PEDERsEN.

